Rachel
Dragas

Who I Am

Why It Matters Here

A title is a microphone. What matters is what gets said into it.

I have spent my career in rooms where people are at their most vulnerable, and in rooms where the whole country is watching. I know how to move between them, and I know how to carry the message from the first room into the second.

The GTA, where it was built

National, where it reached

I have competed at this level before

National Finalist at Miss Universe Canada 2025. I know the format, the pace, the interview rounds, the rehearsal schedule, and what it feels like to be measured alongside the strongest women in the country. That experience is already in hand.

Representing an organization is my profession

CBC and Sony Pictures, Google, Genesis, Rémy Cointreau, Shoppers Drug Mart, Toronto Pearson International Airport, and Toronto FC with MLSE have each put their brand in my hands on camera. Organizations of that size do not hand their name to someone who is a risk.

I already hold ambassador titles

Ambassador for the Rosé Picnic with the Canadian Film Centre, and for Elegance Aroma at the Living Luxe Design Show. I know what it means to carry an organization's name in a room where nobody is supervising me.

I do not rattle

My full-time job is staying composed while someone's life is on the line, coordinating with police and emergency services in real time. An unexpected question, a live camera, or a schedule that falls apart does not compare. Composure under pressure is not something I would need to develop for this role. It is the qualification.

I have represented Canada internationally before

I presented my research at international conferences in California, Utah and Florida, speaking for my institution and my country in front of the global scientific community. I have travelled, prepared, and delivered on foreign stages already.

My story travels

A neuroscientist who works a national crisis line and hosts on camera is memorable in any country and in any language. On an international stage full of exceptional women, being unforgettable is the whole game, and no one there will be confused about who I am.

This title represents far more than a crown. It is a platform for impact, and I intend to use every day of it.

I am a neuroscientist, a mental health and crisis intervention lead, an actor, and a published author. I aspire to be a role model to young girls who may see some part of themselves reflected in me, and to demonstrate that no woman is limited by age, circumstance, or societal expectation. Reinvention and purpose are always attainable.

My journey reflects both curiosity and courage. I did not come from an advantageous beginning. Throughout my career I have often created roles where none existed, identifying gaps and turning vision into action. I founded a magazine because graduate students had no place to talk about mental health. I chaired Grad Minds because that conversation needed a seat at the table.

Competing on a national scale at Miss Universe Canada, and now at Regional Canada Pageants as Ms. Greater Toronto Area, will allow me to stand alongside inspiring women, amplify my humanitarian work in mental health, and challenge long-standing stereotypes about pageantry and about women in STEM.

I also know what this title carries beyond the region. Its holder goes on to represent Regional Canada Pageants at the Royal International Miss Pageant, and that responsibility is one I have spent my career preparing for without knowing it.

At 35, I am living proof that the best chapters are not behind us. They are only beginning.

The Greater Toronto Area

This region raised me professionally. My research was conducted in its leading hospitals, my degrees earned at its most rigorous university, my work serves its residents and first responders, and my media presence has represented its brands on a national stage.

The GTA is one of the most diverse regions on earth. Representing it means representing all of it, and I have spent nineteen years in the rooms where that diversity actually lives: crisis lines, hospital wards, classrooms, hospices, stadiums, press conferences, and community halls.

One message, every audience

Live hosting & on-camera

Conference & workshop

Scientific & frontline

Formal training

Education

Research

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Founding & Leadership Roles

2017 – 2019

Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Elemental Magazine

University of Toronto, tri-campus

Built and trained an editorial team of over 20, secured sponsorship, and developed partnerships with leading mental health researchers and with Sophie Grégoire Trudeau and the Honourable Michael Wilson.

Volunteer Service

Couture for a Cause

VIP Red Carpet Host, July 22. An exclusive Yorkville fashion show, 600+ VIP guests, $150K raised for CAMH mental health programs. On-camera interviews showcasing the fundraiser's mission.

Rosé Picnic

Ambassador & Correspondent, July 11. Toronto's largest premium picnic, with 5,000+ documented guests annually. Promoted awareness and support for Breast Cancer Canada, the event's charity of choice.

Crown of Hope Gala

MC & Host, June 27. A charity and networking gala raising funds for Autism in Mind, working toward a society with no barriers for children with autism. Featuring live performances by Dani Doucette, Craig Smart, Francesco Yates and Laura Cavacece. Approximately 500 attendees.

Mental Health Awareness

I do this work full time, on Canada's national crisis line, alongside police and emergency services. I am not an advocate who read about it. I am the one who answers the call.

Women in STEM

Two neuroscience degrees, six peer-reviewed papers, fifteen research presentations, and a stage. Girls are told to pick one version of themselves. I want to be visible proof that they do not have to.

Social & Environmental Responsibility

Through Startup Canada I helped deliver the Government of Canada's $50M Investment Readiness Program to entrepreneurs solving social and environmental problems.

Host, MC & Correspondent

Competition History & Placement

Awards, Grants & Fellowships

Training & Certifications

What I built

Who I rallied

Also in the room

Where the pieces went

I have spent nineteen years learning how people work: first as a seventeen-year-old volunteer at CNIB, then on the wards at SickKids, then in a laboratory, then in a hospice, and now on the national crisis line at the worst moment of someone's day. Along the way I learned how to hold a room, and I learned that the two skills are the same skill.

What I would bring to Ms. Greater Toronto Area is not a new interest in service. It is nineteen years of it, with the receipts, and a platform that would finally let the work reach the people who need to hear it.

No woman is limited by age, circumstance, or societal expectation. I would like the chance to prove that out loud, for a year, in the region that made me.